Our thoughts and perceptions have a significant impact on the outcomes we experience. Individuals who are optimistic and those who are pessimistic have differing perspectives

on the world. Individuals may interpret the same event differently and express varying descriptions of the experience.

Every person has their own explanatory style, which are a form of communication in which an individual reveals whether or not they interpret an event as positive or negative. In order to gauge the difference on how individuals with differing outlooks on life – either being an optimist or a pessimist – one can turn to two factors: The scope of a situation and the time span of said situation.

The scope of a situation is how someone perceives the depth of an event they have experienced. This can range from something highly specific – such as a get-together with eight close friends – to a more generalized, universal category of events such as dinner with friends.

The time span of a situation is the method in which a person describes events using time or consistency. Descriptions of time range from temporary (such as yesterday, last night, last evening), to typical (daily, usual), up to permanent (always, all the time). These three time ranges are used depending on the person’s perception of the situation in question and can range depending on how they feel regarding the events that they refer to.

Generally speaking, an optimist will perceive and explain positive past events with a universal scope and a permanent time span whereas a pessimist will see them as highly specific and temporary. On the other hand, negative past events will incur the opposite reaction. In other words, optimists see negative past events as bumps in the road caused by external factors that they can’t avoid and lasts only for that one specific instance. Pessimists, however, believe that these negative events are a recurring part of their life and are the part of the consequences of their actions. Therefore, they deem negative life events as likely to happen again and again as they believe that these negative events are a part of their life rather than a single isolated instance.